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Attack of the Card Skimmers: It's Happening Right Here, Right Now
A Man Finds an Actual Card Skimmer in the Wild, in the Flesh
Foot Warmers Are Only a Power Source Away

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something_unique_and_descriptive
04/08/09

In reply to Attack of the Card Skimmers: It's Happening Right Here, Right Now
And this is why you have two checking accounts. One for storage and one that you only keep like $5 in. If you need cash or you're going to be handing the card over to someone who may take it out of your sight, you hop on mobile / online banking and transfer from the storage account to the minimal risk account then use the minimal risk account. Worst case scenario, you're out $5.
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Theophilus P. Wildebeeste
04/07/09

In reply to Attack of the Card Skimmers: It's Happening Right Here, Right Now
That's why I love the ATMs here in Indiana, most are the old type, slide card into slot, pull it out, enter PIN.

There is no way that skimmers can work in those.
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something_unique_and_descriptive
04/08/09

@Theophilus P. Wildebeeste: Um, that's how skimmers work, they read it as the card slides through, doesn't matter if the card stays in the machine during the transaction or not.

There are skimmers for slot/swipe style readers and skimmers that are small enough that a waiter could conceal in their palm and swipe your data in person, with you watching, and you wouldn't even realize it. Those "pocket" skimmers are by far the most common, you can pick 'em up on eBay.
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JDickson87
04/07/09

In reply to Attack of the Card Skimmers: It's Happening Right Here, Right Now
I don't get cash out of the ATM for the reasons that others have said. However, I do deposit money using the ATM since it's often quicker than waiting in line for a real teller machine. This is kind of spooky. Just be aware of what's around you, I suppose.
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ScottRose
04/07/09

@jdickson87: I'm always on the lookout for card skimmers and "unexpected" cameras.. but that ATM in the pic looks really real. Scary.

(I do get money from the ATM, but that's only because there are about 5 Chase branches within 2 miles of my house, and another 2 within .5 miles of my office. They're practically everywhere.. I'm waiting for them to open a branch in my shitter so I can take care of 2 transactions at once).
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matsayz
04/07/09

In reply to Attack of the Card Skimmers: It's Happening Right Here, Right Now
OPSEC people c'mon now. and who uses cash these days anyways....
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RyaninCalgary
04/07/09

@matsayz:

I always keep at least 40-100$ on me. I use debit and credit all the time but some places just don't accept them or it's way faster to pay with cash if you're going somewhere and they have old machines lineups etc. Plus restaurants you get your bill leave cash and walk out no going up to the front desk or waiting for servers to get back to you with the wireless debit. Not to mention the protection of not giving some stranger your card to swipe as they please. Oh and if you're with groups of people tossing your share in is far easier then trying to split a bill at the debit machine. Lots of bars now days don't let you pay with debit. They have those small cash machines that charge like $3 to take cash out. Annoying.
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Jarmel
04/07/09

@RyaninCalgary: You forgot drug dealers.
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logruszed
04/07/09

@Jarmel: All the best campus dealers have PayPal or some sort of prepaid debit card account, or both.

PayPal, or similar, really are the best way to do that kind of business if you're on a college campus or have any client base with ready access to the internet. Never have to worry about getting your cash jacked and a layer of deniability with simple poss Vs. sales in some states.
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Kaiser-Machead
04/07/09

In reply to A Man Finds an Actual Card Skimmer in the Wild, in the Flesh
Could this possibly be part of the reason why many newer ATM's have card slots that are designed in a big translucent piece? If anything was crammed into it, it'd be easier to detect and would obstruct the view of the flashing lights inside, likely making it noticeably darker than the other slots. I could be wrong, but it seems to make some sense.
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kaubuchon
04/07/09

In reply to A Man Finds an Actual Card Skimmer in the Wild, in the Flesh
Yeah, I've pulled one of these suckers off before, the bank sent me a thank you letter for reporting it and everything.
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CaptCaveman
04/07/09

@kaubuchon: You would think they would give you a bit more. Maybe wave some fees for a year or something.

You just saved you a world of hurt, embarrassment, having to supply fraud protection for anyone that could have used the ATM, the trust of their customers, etc. And not even a calendar?

Did the letter come postage due?
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theirishcreme
04/07/09

@CaptCaveman: Why do people believe they deserve a reward for simply doing what is right? Is it not enough to just DO WHAT IS RIGHT?

"The trust of their customers?" Anyone with a pulse knows these things can happen, and not every bad thing in life is preventable. I think my trust would have been broken if they DID give this guy a reward for just doing the right thing.
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Cordfucious of Tech Clan
04/07/09

@theirishcreme: apply that same logic to the bank that overcharges you fees and se how that works out for you. Very few people ESPECIALLY corporations and banks do the RIGHT thng
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Theimbellis
04/06/09

In reply to A Man Finds an Actual Card Skimmer in the Wild, in the Flesh
That is mainly the reason why we WALK INTO the bank, ATM machines are loaded with bugs. I've had $40 stolen in a ATM machine, it told me "please take the cash" and nothing came out, ARGH!
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
04/07/09

@Theimbellis: Stolen? More like machine error and you were too lasy to report it.
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dgghostkilla
04/06/09

In reply to A Man Finds an Actual Card Skimmer in the Wild, in the Flesh
thats crazy. i wonder if the atm security camera caught the picture of whoever put it in.
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Sesheron
04/06/09

@dgghostkilla:

::insert movie quote:: "here's an idea, it's called a mask"

but in all honesty, walk in from side of the building, duck down, camera has limited field of view, slap it on, and walk away.
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Fractal the Meek
04/06/09

@Sesheron: Not even. If you use the right slight of hand (and it wouldn't take much) you could go about it while "just making a withdrawl."
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IN THE FACE!
04/07/09

@Fractal the Meek: Yeah, but if the existing card slot is in the frame of the security cam, it would be pathetically easy to just watch the tape and look for the user that's there when the skimmer "magically" appears...

Nothing...

Nothing...

Bingo!

If the existing card slot isn't in the frame then no "magical" skills would even be necessary...
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Sesheron
04/06/09

In reply to A Man Finds an Actual Card Skimmer in the Wild, in the Flesh
Without some way of getting your pin a skimmer will only get them so far. That said, if you use your credit card they can do a lot more.
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kernow
04/06/09

@Sesheron: Some are pretty advanced and have mini cameras to take pictures of the pin as you type. Big problem here in london, you can buy your own for £2000 here [www.ukclassifieds.co.uk]
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IN THE FACE!
04/07/09

@leotris: THAT is funkin scary, I really really hope that is a sting...
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daftrok
04/06/09

In reply to A Man Finds an Actual Card Skimmer in the Wild, in the Flesh
I think the better question is how the fuck hell does a normal person suddenly KNOW it's a card skimmer when its existence was an urban legend?
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KhaiJB
04/06/09

@daftrok: cos it came off in his hand, has a USB Port, was held on with tape and he'd heard the urban legend?
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Hackintosh
04/06/09

In reply to A Man Finds an Actual Card Skimmer in the Wild, in the Flesh
How dare they. Only REAL banks use Duck Tape.
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DoomDoomDoom
04/06/09

@Hackintosh:

Duct. T
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Kaiser-Machead
04/06/09

@DoomDoomDoom: He could mean the brand.
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auricom
04/06/09

@Hackintosh:

speaking of duck roll tapes .. here's an explanation about how they manufacture them..

[tinyurl.com]
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IN THE FACE!
04/07/09

@auricom: You might have actually rickrolled me if the page it redirected to hadn't been so retardedly slow to load (with the final destination plainly visible in the status bar)...
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zunealltheway
04/06/09

In reply to A Man Finds an Actual Card Skimmer in the Wild, in the Flesh
WTF is a card skimmmer?
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ceilingFANBOY
04/06/09

@zunealltheway: [en.wikipedia.org]

You could have at least tried to figure it out yourself...
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Purple Dave
04/07/09

@zunealltheway:
The black stripe on the back of a credit/debit card contains a magnetic copy of pretty much everything that's stamped through the front of the card, plus your PIN and any other information that might be needed at the point of purchase (except your signature and driver's license). A card skimmer simply reads all the data from that stripe and stores it. Taking that, you can either make a fake card or punch in all the data for online transactions.

The whole process of skimming a card goes really quickly (about as fast as it takes to swipe your own card through a reader). My mom showed me an article about the dangers of using debit cards that included a story of someone who paid for a meal at a sit-down restaurant with one, and in the time it took the waitress to walk the card to the register, run the transaction, and walk it back to the customer, the data was skimmed and suddenly their bank account was getting fraudulent charges.
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theirishcreme
04/07/09

@Purple Dave: I'm relatively certain your PIN isn't a part of the data stored on the strip. I can change my PIN online, over the phone, or at an ATM with a "push in, pull out" reader... all making it pretty clear the PIN isn't stored on the strip, since these methods do not change the magnetic data on the strip.

I'm open to correction, however.
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Purple Dave
04/07/09

@theirishcreme:
Maybe it depends on the card, but I've been told by one financial institution that they couldn't change the PIN on a debit card because they didn't have the proper equipment to do so on-site. You get whatever random PIN the card ships with, and you better hope you can remember it. If it's as simple as changing the number in some far off database, there wouldn't be any problem like you'd get if the data on the stripe actually needed to be changed.
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EndlessMike
04/07/09

@Purple Dave: I chose my debit card's PIN when I signed up for it. I don't know if I can change, it though.
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Purple Dave
04/08/09

@EndlessMike:
I've had it both ways. My last bank sent me a card with a preset PIN, but I could take it in and change it at the local branch.
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